Like a druggist mixing a pharmaceutical compound in a lab, Sam Negaran begins his day with a prescription.
But instead of being tasked with making medicine, Negaran and his co-workers at the Florida Forest Service are reviewing a detailed plan for burning off 350-acres of unwanted underbrush inside the Jennings State Forest.
Negaran’s stack of papers includes detailed maps of the 23,995-acre state forest, descriptions of vegetation, topography, fuel and the objective or purpose of the day’s planned burn. He and his crew have to know such details as relative humidity, where the wind is blowing and the day’s weather forecast in order to ensure the fire is contained.
“Burning helps to clear the land so pine trees can seed in,” Negaran said Jan. 10. “We try to reduce the oaks on some of these critical sand hill habitats, so we can encourage longleaf pine habitat back in these areas. It helps to keep non-native invasives from proliferating in this area. The fire eradicates pests, if we happen to have some right now. We don’t have any, but fire is excellent for maintaining from a pest-free ecosystem and it’s excellent for the wildlife as well,” Negaran said.
With a renewed forest floor, the pines can flourish come springtime. Wildlife habitats and a new, more diverse undergrowth crops up, making the area attractive for such species as deer, turkey and gopher tortoises to continue to thrive near the forest, which sits within 30-minutes of 1.5 million people, which Negaran describes as unique.
From Clay Today: https://www.claytodayonline.com/ee/claytoday/en/component/fullstory/20130117_001_art_0/foresters-preserve-habitat-more